A Sokovian Christmas Night
by LittleMermade
Summary: On a cold and snowy Christmas night in Sokovia 12-year-old twins Pietro and Wanda only have each other. Despite that they find strength in each other. A litte One Shot for Christmas time :) Enjoy


**Merry Christmas everyone! This story was created for a Secret Santa, but I want to share it here too!^^ The dialogue is of course in Sokovian language, but since I can't speak it and you most likely wouldn't understand it, we'll go with English for this one ;)**

 **One Shot!**

 **I recommend listening to Maria Mena's Home for Christmas! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing, characters are owned by Marvel and Disney**

Even though there was a huge hole in the back of the church it was warmer there than outside. It was winter in Sokovia and temperatures often dropped down under 10 °F at night. At around 11 PM the slender shadow of a young boy crossed the bombed out area in front of the church and quickly ducked behind a piece of rubble when a few people passed by. They whispered, but walked away quickly. The boy waited a little longer, only when he was sure he was alone again he continued his way towards the church. He carried a small package, that he clutched with both of his hands, with him.

The kid climbed over the remains of buildings and streets and ran to the altar as soon as he was inside of the not yet destroyed part of the church. He looked around one last time before he knelt down and crawled through beneath the marble altar. He smiled when his eyes met the girl crouching in a corner of the small room. She was dressed in only black leggins, a longshirt and an oversized cardigan. She had an angsty look on her face, but her features softened when she saw the boy.

She wrapped the cardigan tighter around her slender form and tugged her brown waves behind her ears: „Pietro… thank God." The boy smirked and held the package up triumphantly: „Look what I got!"

The girl frowned: „I told you not to steel!" Pietro sighed: „But… we need it more than the people I got it from. They probably don't even recognize that something is missing, Wanda. I did it for you."

Wanda eyed the ground before looking at her brother again: „I… okay, but don't ever do it again." Pietro started grinning: „I promise, little sister."

Wanda took the package from him and unwraped it. The contents raised a smile from her: „Pietro… it's meat and it's still warm!" He raffled his feathers and looked as proud as a twelf-year-old could possibly be: „It's Christmas Eve. And Christmas Eve is special." Wanda nodded and split the poultry and turnips in two equal parts. She kept one piece on the wrapping paper and held the other one out to her brother. Pietro took it from her hesitantly: „Are you sure? …You can keep it, if you want." Wanda shook her head: „No! Like you said, it's Christmas Eve. We are supposed to share." Pietro looked at the food in his hand before eyeing his sister again: „Thank you then…"

The twins ate their dinner in silence and sat down on the stone floor. When they finished, Pietro pulled Wanda closer to him. He took her hands in his and quietly said: „Your hands… they are so cold." Wanda looked up at his face: „Don't worry… I'll be okay." Pietro still looked worried and let go of his sister to stand up: „I can go and look for blankets or jackets somewhere."

Wanda held him back: „No… please don't go away. What if bombs will fall again? What if they hit you?"

Pietro paused in his movement: „I will be safe… but I don't want you to be cold."

Wanda started chewing on her bottom lip: „Pietro, please… I am not cold. But I am scared without you."

Pietro opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it again before speaking. He sat back down and pulled Wanda close again. The girl leaned against her brother and started talking again: „I know that you are brave, Pietro. I don't need proof every single day. I know I should be able to take care alone… but if I lost you, I'd be so scared."

Pietro held her cardigan together: „I would never leave you, sis. Don't even think about that."

Wanda said nothing, she just stared at the small bay below the altar. Suddenly she shook her brother off and stood up: „Come on… we have to get out of here. The midnight mass is going to start soon." Pietro nodded and followed his sister to the hole in the wall. They crawled through and ran out of the church together. Pietro took his sister's hand and guided her through the rubble in the back of the building.

Wanda stopped when they reached the graveyard. Pietro stopped to and looked at her: „Come on… we have to find a place to sleep." Wanda hesitated and looked at the church clock: „Can we stay here for just a little longer, please?"

Pietro looked at the clock too and nodded: „Okay… but not too long." Wanda smiled and took her brother's hand again. She dragged him along behind her and led him through the rows of graves left and right from them. In front of very few gravestones candles were lit.

Wanda stopped abruptly when she reached a grave at the edge of the graveyard. Pietro stopped by her side and looked down at the grave. Two names were still readable on the stone, three more had already faded. Wanda whispered in the direction of the grave: „It's been more than two years… hasn't it?"

Pietro sighed and looked at the grave too: „Yeah… I believe it was summer." Wanda only nodded and held onto his hand: „Promise me something, Pietro…" Pietro eyed the grave, where the remains of their parents were buried, a little longer: „Anything."

Wanda hesitated, but then she continued: „Please don't leave me alone… I need you. You are the only family I have left."

Pietro circled his thumb over the back of Wanda's hand: „I promise."

For a while the twins only stood there hand in hand, looking down on what reminded them of the life two twelf-year-olds should have. What they had instead was heart-wrenching. They escaped the orphanage in the middle of the night after spending one year there. Ever since that day they lived in the streets of Sokovia. The rubble, the cold streets and the lonely alleys became their new home. The twins only had each other, but it could be worse. At least they each had one person to rely on and to comfort each other in times of war and terror which never seemed to end in Sokovia.

The high ring of a bell broke the silence and two heads shot up synchronically. In the next moment the rest of the church bells joined in. Wanda looked at her brother again: „It's midnight…" Pietro offered her a faint smile and pulled her into a hug: „Merry Christmas, Wanda." Wanda held him tight: „Merry Christmas, Pietro. I love you, jerk." Pietro smirked: „I love you too, silly girl."


End file.
